


Twice Daily

by cuteashale



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Ichabod learns about modern hygiene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 06:41:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1002183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuteashale/pseuds/cuteashale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ichabod is startled to learn that in this modern world people brush their teeth every day. <i>Twice</i> a day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twice Daily

**Author's Note:**

> So I noticed that not a lot of the Sleepy Hollow fiction involved Ichabod learning about how thing roll here in the future. This is that fic. It's my very first for Sleepy Hollow so be gentle, okay? Hope you like it! I loved writing it.
> 
> EDIT: hey ho this fic has a sequel now [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9291359)

"I'm sorry – what?"

Abbie sighs the sigh of the long suffering and wonders if teaching a two hundred and something man how to brush his teeth is some sort of punishment for things she’s done in a past life.

"You squeeze that onto the toothbrush – " she gestures with the bright blue brush – Ichabod picked it out – for emphasis, " – and stick it in your mouth. Brush around for a while. Sing a song, count to a hundred – whatever."

"Sing a -" Ichabod shakes his head and pulls himself up to his full height of six foot too damn tall. "What I meant by my query was this: you do this...teeth brushing, as it were – every single day? Twice a day?" He sounds both curious and alarmed and Abbie looks up at the ceiling, silently asking for strength.

"Yes, Crane, every day. Twice a day, morning and night. Give it a try. For being buried in a cave for two hundred years your teeth look pretty good, but you should still brush."

Ichabod frowns at the toothbrush between Abbie's fingers and slowly offers one long fingered hand. "I will, as you say, ‘give it a try’," he finally says, as though her asking him to brush his teeth is somehow offensive. Bad breath is offensive – she’s doing him a favor.

Abbie drops the brush in his hand, fingers brushing his palm lightly and forces a smile. "Good. I'll be out here." She spins on her heel and leaves the bathroom, wandering out into the main area of Ichabod's motel room. 

It's fairly nice for something being paid for by the force, but the room is mostly bare. It's not like Ichabod really came to Sleepy Hollow with a load of possessions, though. Or really _came_ to Sleepy Hollow at all. He's been underground in a cave for a couple hundred years, he couldn't _go_ anywhere.

This is still all too much for her. The guy is supposed to be dead, but she can hear him in the other room, humming something to himself.

She rubs a weary hand over her forehead and sinks down onto the end of the bed, only to pop back upright when she hears a laugh from the bathroom.

"Crane?" Abbie questions, walking slowly into the bathroom. She doesn't know why she's suspicious, save for the fact she's never really heard Ichabod laugh before. At least not like this, where he sounds honestly amused by whatever is going on in there. "Crane, what are you – "

Her eyes widen as Ichabod turns his head to face her and she honestly has no idea how to respond to this. 

_This_ being...

Well.

Ichabod has toothpaste all over him. His mouth is white and foamy and there are flecks of paste in his beard and on the front of his shirt. He looks positively thrilled by this, and the smile on his face is big and bright. And foamy. 

"Lieutenant!" he exclaims, voice hushed with excitement and slightly muffled by the abundance of toothpaste in his mouth. "This toothpaste is phenomenal! Do you know that it _tingles_? I feel..." He trails off, simply gesturing expansively toward his face.

Abbie bites her lip on a smirk, her earlier suspicions no longer a concern. "Bubbly?" she offers, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Bubbly?" Ichabod seems to test the word in his mouth before eagerly nodding. "Bubbly, yes. Miss Mills, this is fantastic." He sticks the toothbrush back into his mouth and moves it around, cheeks bulging with the motion.

Abbie laughs, rubbing a hand up her forehead. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," she sighs. "Don't forget to spit and rinse."

"Spit?" Ichabod splutters around the brush, sending foamy flecks flying.

Abbie closes her eyes and shakes her head, a smile on her face. 

"Yes," she replies. "Spit out the toothpaste and rinse your mouth." She plucks a small paper cup off the back of the sink, fills it with a small amount of water, and tilts it to her lips. With the water in her mouth, she puffs out her cheeks and swirls, then bends over the sink beside Ichabod and spits.

"My goodness," Ichabod breathes. The toothbrush is back in his hand again and there's foam dribbling onto his fingers.

Abbie raises an eyebrow, fills the cup up again, and offers it to Ichabod. "First, spit that mess out."

Ichabod looks as though it severely pains and confuses him, but he leans over the sink and spits into it. Abbie gives what she hopes in an encouraging smile and hands him the cup of water. After holding it in his mouth for a beat, confused eyes lowered to look down at her, Abbie mimes swirling the water in her mouth and Ichabod follows her lead. 

His cheeks puff out like a chipmunk and his eyebrows rise up his forehead as his mouth twists from side to side. It’s a wonder Abbie doesn’t burst out laughing at the complete and utter concentration on his face as he rinses his mouth. She raises her eyebrows when he doesn't immediately spit and his shoulders slump as he bends and spits out the water held in his mouth.

“Not exactly something one should be doing in the presence of a lady,” Ichabod mutters, but one narrow-eyed glance from Abbie shuts him right up.

"Ta da," Abbie says, grinning a little now that Ichabod's mouth is clean and he's making faces at himself in the mirror as he examines his mouth. "Wasn't so bad, huh?" She turns on the sink to rinse away the mess and tugs at Ichabod's sleeve, urging his hand under the running water to rinse it and his toothbrush off.

Ichabod takes the towel Abbie offers him to dry his hands and pats at his mouth and, after a moment, the front of his shirt. "I must admit, that was much preferable to your _electric_ razor. I don't think I shall mind doing this morning and night."

Abbie laughs, taking the towel back from Ichabod and smacking it lightly against his stomach. "I'll teach you flossing next," she promises, grinning.

"Flossing?" Ichabod's confused voice follows her as she leaves the bathroom and heads for the front door. "Lieutenant, what is flossing?"

"Come on, Crane. We're gonna be late."

"But lieutenant!"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know if you liked it and if you maybe want more. I could probably be persuaded to write more like this.


End file.
